By TED MILLER, P-I COLUMNIST

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, November 6, 2006

The traffic outside Qwest Field was horrible. The press box roof was leaky. The national anthem featured an abortive start. And there was a continuous monsoon.

In a season in which the Seahawks have thrown up more red flags than a Chinese May Day celebration, it's easy to gather worries and frustrations and gripes.

And then fret that they suggest oncoming doom.

With a sense of crisis hanging in the wet air, with a growing chorus of pundits writing them off as a flagging contender, the Seahawks needed to make a statement on ESPN's "Monday Night Football."

Sure, the party line was that no one was hitting the panic button. But the subject's legitimate presence this week hinted that a few coaches and players had been casting sideways glances at it -- which, according to the Pittsburgh Steelers, is actually more of a switch than a button.

Therefore, the Seahawks needed a fast start against a woeful Raiders squad that somehow had managed to win two games in a row and possessed a salty defense good enough to make any team just a bit nervous.

The Seahawks needed to set their feet and punch the Raiders in the nose.

And they did just that.

They staged a potent initial push, and in a sloppy mess of a game, that was enough for a 16-0 victory that probably won't be captured in oils by LeRoy Neiman.

The Seahawks needed to run the football, they needed to play tough, aggressive defense, and they needed to make plays at playmaking time.

They needed, emotionally, to draw first blood.

And they did just that.

Facing a third-and-7 two plays into Seattle's first possession, Seneca Wallace dumped a pass to Mack Strong, who leaped toward the sideline, just picking up the final inches to keep the drive going.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Raiders provided a boost, but not as much as a 17-yard run by Maurice Morris to the Raiders 22.

On the next play, Wallace launched a perfect strike in the right corner of the end zone to Deion Branch, and it was 7-0.

Beyond the points, that drive was important because it featured: 1) A clutch play on third-and-long; 2) Boneheaded help from an opponent, which always lifts the spirits; 3) A running game spark; and 4) Wallace, in his second start for the injured Matt Hasselbeck, making savvy, veteran plays.

Nothing the offense would do thereafter would be as impressive, at least not until the very end.

Over the next two drives, Wallace made a few plays with his feet and arm. Morris made a couple of nice runs. But the drives stalled -- Jerramy Stevens dropped a touchdown pass that split the 8 and 6 on his jersey -- and concluded with field goals.

Still, a 13-0 advantage is a big deal against a team that averages 13.1 points per game.

Of course, that's grounds for optimism hung on the Seahawks' inexplicably beleaguered defense reawakening after taking 4 1/2 games off.

And it did just that -- obviously, witness the bagel representing the Raiders point total.

The defense piled up nine sacks -- tied for the third-best total in team history -- for minus-45 yards and held the Raiders to just 185 yards and 13 first downs.

The Raiders own the NFL's worst offense, so flattening them won't earn a special on NFL Films.

Any Seahawks fans out there want to file a complaint?

Just last week, Seahawks defenders surrendered 499 yards and left Kansas City with Larry Johnson's footprints all over their collective backs. They failed physically, mentally and schematically.

So a shutout feels damn nice.

Though the offense was mostly anemic after that critical, initial push, it also reclaimed its manhood with a season-high 207 yards rushing. Morris, with 138 yards, became the first Seahawk to eclipse the century mark this season.

Moreover, after the defense provided a fourth-down stop midway through the fourth quarter, the offense ground out 45 yards in 11 plays -- all runs -- that killed 6:18 off the clock. The third Josh Brown field goal of the night handed the Raiders a three-score deficit with 1:17 left and essentially lowered the curtain on the evening's drama.

Pretty? No. But with five starters inactive with injuries -- four from the offense, including a Pro Bowl quarterback and NFL MVP Shaun Alexander -- just surviving is enough.

The victory ends a two-game slide and gives the Seahawks, now 5-3, a critical one-game lead in the NFC West over St. Louis, which just so happens to be coming to town Sunday.

Beating the Raiders won't exactly send shockwaves through the league.

But the Seahawks needed to make a stand. They needed to reclaim their mojo. They needed to win.